Tentacle-Free Anime: "Psycho-Pass: The Movie" (2015)

I don't often get to see anime films in theaters. In my sliver of America it's actually quite the treat to get to see an anime film any other way than Home Video, TV or Computer. Before DBZ: Battle of Gods two year ago, I had only ever gotten to see Yu-Gi-Oh: The Movie in theaters as a kid. Now, I go to them every chance I get and I hold each one to very high standards because I know how few chances I may get. I guess that's why I binge watched 33 episodes of Psycho-Pass in order to see the movie yesterday. So, how did that go, anyways?

Summary:Year 2116—The Japanese government begins to export the Sibyl System unmanned drone robots to troubled countries, and the system spreads throughout the world. A state in the midst of a civil war, SEAUn (the South East Asia Union), brings in the Sibyl System as an experiment. Under the new system, the coastal town of Shambala Float achieves temporary peace and safety. But then SEAUn sends terrorists to Japan. They slip through the Sibyl System and then attack from within. The shadow of a certain man falls on this incident. In charge of the police, Tsunemori travels to Shambala Float to investigate. The truth of justice on this new ground will become clear. [MyAnimeList.net]

[SPOILERS!!]

Psycho-Pass: The Movie take place 3 years after season 1 and about a year or so after season 2, but curiously barely references season 2 at all. Given that Kougami returns for this film after being absent for the entirety of season 2 all the references are to season 1. The only known references to season 2 that I could see were a few characters from that season, but given that they're barely in the film, you can pretty much think of this as an epilogue to season 1 and be none the wiser if you didn't watch season 2.

Promo poster

I won't bother telling you all about the travesty of events that led up to seeing the film, but note that it did lead me to missing the first 12 minutes of this film I had literally been binging for in anticipation. I wasn't happy and admittedly it did sour my experience quite a bit. However I did remedy that before writing this review because I refuse to review a movie that I haven't seen all the way through. It's a movie, why would you review it if you didn't watch the whole thing?

Rather than letting my emotions get in the way I did sit through all the rest of the movie and took it all in. The story, the characters, the animation. As well as the dub which was strange to experience just because I got to know all of these characters through sub first.

Getting this out of the way I do feel as if FUNimation is getting lazy in their dubbing of, well, anything. It's well-known the studio only has a handful of in-house voice actors and they like to use them for everything. Well it didn't do them any favors for Psycho-Pass as I definitely prefer the original Japanese VAs to the American. Everyone just sounds like they showed up for “just another day in the office” and I'm not really sure why.

The movie itself isn't terrible, but it is the weakest this series has offered so far. It tried to do something different by setting this story in another country, which I appreciate, but it also tried to do too much with its setting and paid a bit of the price for it. I like that Akane was put on her own for most of this film, letting her explore another part of the world outside of Japan and getting to be sort of a real detective even if she doesn't actually do much detecting. However this allows us to see how she reacts to outside elements and in true “perfect girl” practice pretty much adapts well to almost everything.

Akane is done taking your crap.

It's also fascinating to get to hear about more of what the world outside of Japan is like in this current era. Since the introduction of the Sibyl System in Japan the police keep the country safe and – mostly – orderly. While we discover in the movie that majority of the rest of the world is in constant state of unrest and upheaval. Wars abound most everywhere and I truly wonder what cataclysmic event led to all of this.

Touching back on some of the political spout I discussed in my previous Psycho-Pass review terrorism is a major issue right now. As well as countries not allowing refugees into their borders. Using a semi-archaic form of the Sibyl System overseen by Japan an obvious regime of China has created a new city in a neighboring war-torn country and are only allowing refugees in whom have clear Psycho-Pass'. Which if your hue is monitored by stress you can obviously tell that not many refugees get in.

[Also of note: Early in the film we get confirmation that Japan in this new world does not open its borders to refugees and outsiders of any nation. This is something Japan pretty well practices in real life as the country very rarely opens its borders for refugees. I wonder if this was a commentary on that by the creators?]

Colonel Wong doesn't sound cliche at all.

The city is still thriving, but as the ending of the film reveals most of the people within' the city are not what you think they are. And I won't give it a way, but for all the convoluted storytelling this series is actually quite good at not overplaying this is where I started to say by the end “That's all a little too convenient.”

But I really did appreciate the addition of other countries, people, and cultures in this film. Kougami returns as a terrorist working in opposition of this new government in the SEAUn. As you could guess though it's revealed that he actually still has a heart of gold and is teaching the “rebels” how to defend themselves against the “monstrous military.” It's all a bit on the nose if you ask me.

What follows isn't a bad film like I've said, but it is very basic story for what I know this series is capable of. The ending follows the previous seasons where Akane is faced with a dilemma that puts Sibyl in the role of the villain and she has to talk the System into doing the right thing. Again. Akane's character arc feels incomplete with the addition of this film. At this point I truly believe there needs to be a season 3 because there are still plot points from season 2 that need to be resolved and this movie did not feel like a culmination of 33 episodes worth of storytelling.

The end credits do hint at the possibility of a season 3 but until something is officially announced I wouldn't hold my breath.

The characters are all just like themselves. It was nice seeing Kougami, but he's more or less just a plot device. He does get a character arc of sorts but overall he just doesn't feel as important to the plot as you would imagine for the return of such an important and beloved character. And he doesn't change at all in his time on screen either which is another problem.

We also get the introduction of some mercenaries hired by Colonel Wong to take Kougami by force and deliver him to them alive. Really interesting is that every member of this band has cybernetic enhancements to their bodies. Not as interesting is only the leader really gets any speaking parts as well as action parts or important parts. And his ultra-high tech cybernetic arm does not do massive damage – or really any damage – to Kougami who takes every hit like it is a walk in the part. Psycho-Pass' physics are usually better than that but this is a movie and we need cool fight scenes or it won't be interesting.

That may just be the biggest downside to this film. While it is interesting and is filled with interesting subjects narratively and culturally, unfortunately it just falls into to too many movie clichés and I know this series is better than that. The movie is only a disappointment if you're expecting the level of intelligence and intrigue both TV seasons produced until you realize what you ended up with was mostly an action flick.​

Kougami's never looked better.

The characters designs are sleek however and the animation is truly top notch. I've never seen the series look this good. I will definitely admit Production I.G. has a very pretty looking product they've put out and if you got to watch it on the big screen in that respect it is a wonderful experience. The music isn't bad, it's just more or less the same awesome style the TV series had. Which I'm totally fine with because I love the music from the series.

In the end Psycho-Pass: The Movie is passable, but it isn't terrible. It's regrettably by the numbers, but it isn't a bad movie. A lot of people will find something to enjoy about it, I know I did, and some people are going to dislike it for not feeling like the show it came from. Which I also understand. If you are a fan of this series I definitely suggest watching it, and if you're interested in the series then by all means watch seasons 1 and 2 and then watch this film.

Final Score: 3 War-Torn Countries out of 5

Have you checked out "Psycho-Pass: The Movie"? Do you think it lives up to the show? Let us know below!